For Once
by ScriptedLullabies
Summary: Emily and Paige have been best friends for years. The two girls have finally reached the end of their high school years and are ready to embark on a new journey. But when uncertainty seeps in as they face the unpredictable future that may change everything between them, will one of them finally be brave enough to admit the truth?


**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! It's been so long since the last time I was here. For those who read my main story **Reminiscence, **I know, I know, an update is long over-due. I've been trying to get back to writing again. Life has been… *sigh life man. But while my main story needs deep considerations and serious preparations, this… _scribble_ just came out of nowhere (and if you happen to see a similar story elsewhere, don't panic, because this story has been converted in another fandom). And to those it may concern, I'm still working on an epilogue and prologue for **Teenage Drama, **don't give up on me yet! One distraction down, many more to go! Please let me know what you think of this, I'll appreciate it so very much :)

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A buzz disrupted her slumber and she instantly hated the fact that she was a light sleeper. She ignored it, thinking that if it were important, whoever it was texting her would call her instead. But then the phone buzzed again only after a few seconds. That got her attention so she stretched her hand out, reaching for her phone set on the nightstand. Her hand hovered over the inanimate object; she already had a suspect, the person she would lash out on in the morning when she was aware enough to actually verbalize those profanities immaculately.

When her phone buzzed yet again, she groaned in annoyance, picking it up instantly. She peered to the screen with one eye closed, opening the three messages she just got. And of course, they all contained the same word; two letters, three dots… _Em…_ She quickly typed out a response.

"_Can you stop trying to instill your Sheldon Cooper's obsession into everything you do?_"

She shut her eyes once more, resting her phone on her chest. She didn't have to wait for too long, her best friend had always been a fast responder.

"_When you stop being annoyed by it, then I'd find no pleasure in doing so. Open your window, Em…_"

Emily scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion, glancing over to her bedside alarm clock. The number 00:14 glaring back at her, she immediately questioned her best friend's sanity.

"_Did you get hit on the head on your last game? It's after midnight! Go home!_"

She huffed and turned to lie sideways, burying her head under her pillow, trying to convince herself to go back to sleep and ignore the menace that was the brown eyed girl who was of course… Another buzz… _Damn, I knew I should've never let her help me build that stupid sand castle back then. _

"_As a matter of fact, I did and your parents had basically adopted me to be one of their own. So, I am home! Now open this window or…"_

Emily knew what was coming.

"Emily…"

"Emily…"

"Emily…"

Yep, she should have never let Paige swoop into her life like a knight in a freaking shining armor, no matter how amazing that sand castle had turned out back when they were 6. She could have avoided this incessant disturbance that…

"Emily…"

"Emily…"

"Emily…"

Emily tossed her comforter away, throwing her feet off of the bed. She marched toward her window seat vigorously. As she got closer, she could finally make out the shadowy figure behind the glass, a grinning girl who reminded her of the Cheshire cat, and her annoyance just grew tenfold. She always hated that smug cat. She saw how Paige's fist was still up in the air, ready to start another round of obnoxious tapping on her window pane. But before Paige could go through with it, she unlocked her window, slamming it open with no regard.

"Are you nuts?!" Emily yelled out, glaring at her best friend.

"Oh, hey Paige... How was the game? We are the state champion, Em! You won? I'm so happy for you. And how's your head? It's fine, Emily, thanks. Are you sure? Did you get it check? Yes, no need to worry…"

"Can you just get in already?!" Emily growled, stepping aside as Paige throwing one foot in. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest as she watched her friend climb in so effortlessly. Well of course, it's not like it was the first time Paige had sneaked into her bedroom through that window.

"Ah, such a warm welcome… Though I expected confetti to fill the air and rose petals scatter on the floor. After all, I was dubbed the MVP of the season…" Paige commented sarcastically, stilling her body as her feet finally landed on the carpeted wood floor.

"Please remind your adoptive father that his other daughter would like that tree outside to be chopped off first thing in the morning…" Emily sneered, moving to close her window.

"But then where would the wood fairies live? They're our best friend, remember?" Paige countered nonchalantly, perching on the edge of Emily's bed.

Emily rolled her eyes, strolling back to her bed. She ignored the expectant look Paige was giving her. She clambered on her bed and hurriedly got under the covers. She deliberately turned her body away, her back to the seemingly overjoyed girl. She felt some shuffling behind her and soon enough, that familiar toned arm of her best friend wrapping her waist. Emily instinctively moved back to snuggle closer, Paige's embrace was something that had always felt so right. Those arms had always provided her with such ease, holding her up whenever she crumbled down; protecting her from the world that sometimes so adamant on giving her hell.

"Don't you wanna know why I'm here?" Paige whispered in her ear, causing a jolt rippling through her veins. For reasons she would never admit, not even to herself… Well at least not out loud.

"To make sure that I'm gonna die young from sleep deprivation…" Emily retorted in mumbled voice, silently wishing Paige wouldn't catch on the rapid beating of her heart.

"When I got back earlier from the state game, my dad handed me an envelope…" Paige started, ignoring Emily's attempt to brush her off.

"Yeah?" Emily probed, swallowing a sudden lump in her throat. Her stomach twisted in anticipation of the inevitable.

"It's from Stanford…" Paige continued, subconsciously tightening her grip on Emily's body and reveled in the fact that Emily's hand had moved to envelop hers. "I got in, Em. Full ride…" She breathed out so reverently, a sense of relief and excitement was evident in her voice.

Emily's body instantly stiffened, she could feel her eyes start to sting and her breath get stuck in her throat. She had dreaded this day and yeah, she was aware of how awful that would make her, because really, she should have been happy for Paige. She _was _happy for her best friend, but she was also selfish and foolish for thinking that if Paige didn't get in, then maybe, they wouldn't part ways. Maybe, they would still be Emily and Paige, conquering the real world together. But now it was just a wishful thinking, a vision that should've not been there in the first place.

"Em?" Paige called out, the lack of response from her best friend started to unnerve her. Emily had always been so supportive of her; she had always been her rock and her anchor. As much as Emily thought that Paige was the strong one between the two of them, Paige had always seen Emily as the braver one. After all, Emily had stuck by her through everything. Even when some people had turned their backs on her when she finally came out, Emily had stood by her unwaveringly. Even though that meant, Emily got caught in battles that weren't hers to fight, she never budged. If that wasn't bravery, Paige didn't know what is.

So really, she couldn't think of something better than telling her best friend the good news, like Emily's approval would somehow validate her happiness even more. And she really needed to know that Emily was happy for her. Stanford had been her long life dream, a dream that once she had thought she could share with the one person that mean so much to her, but now she would settle with the fact that she could only achieve half of that dream. Because that one person wasn't hers and that person had built a pathway to a dream she shared with someone else. If she was honest with herself, going to Stanford was mainly her way to escape from the cold hard truth.

"Em?" Paige called out again, shaking herself off from her train of thoughts. She let out a breath of relief when she felt Emily start to shuffle her body around. And when she finally locked her eyes with the deep soulful chocolate orbs, a sincere smile graced her lips.

Emily couldn't respond immediately for she needed the time to regain her composure. Now that she was gazing at the brown eyed girl, she let herself entranced by the soft smile on those pink lips and the kindness in those mesmerizing eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Paige…" She eventually croaked, she noticed the vulnerability in her voice, she hoped her best friend wouldn't read much into it. She purposely reached up, brushing wayward strain of hair away from Paige's face. "Stanford is lucky to have you…"

Paige promptly grinned; she could easily feel how genuine Emily's words were. "You're the only person I wanted to share this news with…" She admitted, trying to get hold of her increasing pulse.

"Oh yeah? What about your _girlfriends_?" The tanned beauty teased, putting emphasize on the word that honestly bugged her to no end. But it had always been so easy to just play around with Paige; making her best friend smile was one of the things that make her life worth while.

"Nah… They would find out about it after I posted an announcement on my Facebook page. You know it could also serve as a sort of breakup text." Paige shrugged dismissively, feigning a disinterested look.

"Paige McCullers, you're such a player." Emily gasped in faux disbelief, slapping her best friend's shoulder playfully. They both erupted in quiet laughter. After a few seconds the laughter died down and Emily got her bearings back. "Seriously though, for someone who's a hopeless romantic, you are so cold to those girls…"

"Hey! I'm not cold! And those girls knew what they were getting into. I never gave them false hopes." Paige argued almost defensively, staring down at the raven haired girl.

"Yeah, yeah, spoken like a true Casanova…" Emily uttered, waving her hand around in the empty space left between the two girls. And all she wanted to do was to just scoot a little bit closer and flood all of her senses with everything that was Paige. "You know you should find someone nice and just settle down for once…"

"Easy for you to say Miss I-have-found-Mr. Right-and-we-are-going-to-NYU-together…" Paige scoffed, rolling her eyes in feign mockery.

And it just hit Emily even harder. That was it. They would soon live in the opposite side of the country; 3000 miles away from each other. Her heart ached uncontrollably, but she wouldn't let it show. No, she would keep on with her pretense. Paige was right anyway, she had been fortunate enough to have found love. Though if Emily were to be really honest, she had found love way before a humble and charismatic guy waltzed into her life in sophomore year. Brian Canning was his name and he was _almost _perfect for Emily.

He was smart and insightful; that had been the first thing that drawn Emily to him, his vast knowledge and deep appreciation toward literature. Emily never thought she would find someone (other than Paige of course, but that wasn't the point here), who share the same fascination and passion toward life in general. But there he was, standing out in blurred sea of 'common' people, unexpectedly and effortlessly demanded Emily's attention. And she hadn't minded the fact that she was willing to let herself fall for him, even though for a sliver of weakness moment, she knew she was just deluding herself.

But what had started as a way of hiding the truth, continued to grow to be something of substance and consistency. He made her laugh and he bought her flowers just because. He took her out on a picnic date by the lake, whipping all Emily's favorite food and snacks. He would stop by Emily's house every Sunday with tons of DVDs, horror movies and documentaries on sports and history events, because those were Emily's obsession. He would abandon game session with his friends to help Pam cleaning out their yard even without Emily requesting him to do so. What more a girl could ask?

Of course, he had also passed every inquisitive looks and prying questions that Paige had thrown at him over the months he had spent trying to win Emily over. Paige actually liked him; she thought that he was proper and decent for Emily. She could not ask for a better guy to take over her place as Emily's protector, no matter how shattered her heart was by the idea, because on top of everything, Emily's happiness would always be hers as well. And when questions and decisions of the future finally came up, it was only logical (and maybe convenient) that Emily would agree on embarking the uncertainty with the boy who had been nothing but loyal and loving.

"Maybe you'll find someone in California…" Emily whispered, reining in the dejection in her voice.

"Who knows… After all, girls with tan skin, toned abs and long legs, who could say no to those?" Paige quipped playfully, smirking at her best friend.

"You perv!" Emily nudged Paige's shoulder, the sound of her best friend's melodic laugh followed suit, filling the corner of Emily's heart with warmth and contentment.

Paige settled down her amusement, averting her gaze back to the face of her favorite person in the entire world. That was one of the things she had told Emily when they were kids, Emily was undoubtedly the sun to her sullen sky and the stars to her solitude moon. "Look at us, Em. Talking about the future and welcoming the unknown…" Paige murmured as she moved her hand to brush Emily's arm soothingly.

"I'm kinda scared…" Emily professed, closing her eyes to take in how delicate Paige's fingers feel against her skin.

"Why? You will have Brian with you. I'm sure in no time you both will gain back your status as the sweetest couple and you'll be the 'it' couple in NYU. Sounds amazing, no?" Paige teased lightly, gripping Emily's arms just a little bit tighter. She had learned many years ago that sometimes when Emily got upset, she just wanted to be held and listened to; other times, she wanted a distraction to ease her overwhelming emotions. And Paige had always managed to just provide her with both.

"I know. But I won't have my best friend." Emily breathed out weakly, her eyes flitting up to meet Paige's intense gaze. "And I'm scared that we're gonna drift apart. Who knows you may find someone to replace me in California among all those cool girls…"

"That will never happen. It's not even possible…" Paige interjected instantly, shaking her head slightly.

"You don't know that. Anything is possible, Paige…"

"Then that goes both ways. We have it in ourselves to control all the possibilities in life. And among all those, I know that the only possibility that can exist when it comes to us is that someday we'll be a pair of 60 year old grandmas, strolling down some beach on a holiday surrounded by our grandchildren. That we will sit down by the shore, telling them stories of our childhood, of how I helped you beat those stinky boys with our amazing sand castle and how we lied down on the sand in the summer nights to gaze upon the stars." Paige peered down, tucking her fingers under Emily's chin. She wanted to make sure that Emily was really looking at her before she continued.

"And there's no replacing you because there's only one you as well as there's only one space reserved in my mind and in my soul, and it's only for you and no one else. I may meet someone new, but that someone would occupy a whole new place, while yours, the one that's always higher above anyone else's, would remain untouched until we meet again on breaks and holidays; until I can hear your voice through the phone and see your face on Skype; until I read all the letters you would send me after I send you my latest drawings and poetries. If anything is possible, then I'll give everything to hold on to just one ultimate possibility of having you in my life until the day I die."

There was no hesitancy in Paige's voice, it was firm and sincere. She would never show this vulnerable side of her to anyone but Emily. Her heart was fragile and pure, her mind was brilliant and petrifying, and everything that was entirely her, she had given only to her best friend. And she would have given more, if only she knew how Emily really felt toward her. But she didn't and in her illusions she would stay, as long as she could have just a part of Emily, she would not ask for anything else.

Emily gazed upon those gems; those chocolate orbs that sparkled as bright as the sun; that would speak only in depth and truth. Those same eyes that had held her captive for all these years; grounding her to reality, and holding her in honesty. She finally let her tears prickle down her face while a genuine smile adorning her lips. "See, if you were to show more of your Shakespeare than your Casanova side, someone would definitely see you for you and they would not have the strength to let you go…_ever_."

"Maybe…" _Though you're the only one I want to give all of me_. "We will be okay, Em." Paige whispered softly, brushing off droplet of tears streaming down that beautiful face she could gaze on forever.

"Yeah?" Emily bit her bottom lip, looking for further affirmation in Paige's words.

"Yeah. You're stuck with me, Fields…" Paige smiled charmingly, tugging the tanned beauty closer.

Emily easily complied with the silent demand, burying her face on the crook of Paige's neck. She huffed in relief, Paige's arms was where she really belonged. She shut her eyes as her mind wandered on her tomorrows. She convinced herself that her life would only get better. She had achieved one of her dreams, going to NYU, and she would face the rough sea with someone who meant the world to her. But as Paige's slender fingers started to stroke her hair, lulling her to slumber, she let one slip of weakness moment seep into her subconscious. She let the agonizing truth reverberate through out her whole body.

For Brian was her whole world, Paige was her entire existence and the universe beyond.

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**To be continued… (I'm thinking a mini series maybe?)**


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